Grieving Mother Criticizes Police

``They could have caught him another time. It was not like they were murderers or anything like that,'' said Linda Clark, whose son, Rashawn Clark, died.

Clark learned afterward that it was not her son police wanted but his friend, Sean Antonio Rainey, 20, the passenger in the Honda Accord that slammed into a traffic light pole at Warwick Boulevard and Thorncliff Drive.

Rainey remains hospitalized in serious condition at Riverside Regional Medical Center with a broken neck and other injuries.

Four days before the accident, narcotics detectives came to the Clarks' home on Riddick Road seeking Rainey, Ms. Clark said. At the time, she said she did not know Rainey was on the run from police.

Rainey had been there but left before police arrived, Ms. Clark said.

Rashwan had celebrated his 20th birthday Aug. 8. ``He was just a happy child. Before he left the house Monday he was joking with me and his grandmother,'' Ms. Clark said.

A high school dropout, Rashawn was unemployed. Court records showed that on Feb. 1, Newport News Circuit Judge J. Warren Stephens convicted Rashawn on two counts of possession of stolen property and one count of possession of narcotics. He received three years in prison for the drug charge and 12 months each for the possession of stolen property, but the judge suspended all of the jail time.

Rainey's criminal record includes convictions for possessing a sawed-off shotgun, having a firearm while in possession of narcotics and felony drug trafficking, according to Newport News Circuit Court. In 1993, he was sentenced to 10 years, all suspended, fined $100 and referred to Youth Challenge, a program for wayward and troubled teen-agers, for the drug charge.

He was also given suspended sentences for the two gun charges.

In December, a circuit court grand jury indicted Rainey on a felony drug charge. When he failed to appear in court, a judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

Rainey also was running from charges in an incident in January where he and another man allegedly pistol-whipped a 21-year-old man and stole his coat, police spokeswoman Patty Mahaffy said.

Police knew Rainey was in the car because a detective had seen him earlier and ``knew there were warrants on file for him,'' Mahaffy said.

The detective then radioed for a patrol officer to make an arrest. ``Once the car stopped at Old Courthouse Way and Warwick, the police officer stepped out of his car to approach the Honda," Mahaffy said. ``As he stepped out, the Honda drove off.''

The chase lasted no more than a couple of minutes. A mile and a half away, Rashawn lost control of the Honda when it struck another car in the intersection. The Honda caromed over a curb, went airborne and came to rest around the base of a traffic light pole.

Rashawn was dead at the scene.

Police searched the Honda and found several ounces of crack cocaine, some marijuana and a large sum of cash.

Police Chief William F. Corvello has ordered an administrative review and internal investigation to determine whether the officers who were involved in the chase followed policy.

NNPD POLICY

The Newport News Police Department has a specific policy that covers hot pursuits.

``It shall be the policy of this department that the apprehension of a fleeing suspect will be secondary in importance to the safety of the public,'' the policy states.

The policy provides specific guidelines for engaging in a pursuit and terminating a chase.

``A police officer may engage in hot pursuit when the pursuit will not create an obvious danger to the safety of the public and the officer has more than a mere belief that the fleeing suspect(s) have committed a felony involving serious violence or injury,'' according to the department's policy and procedures manual.

Factors that officers should consider include weather, traffic conditions and pedestrian traffic.